Monday, December 29, 2008

Apologies!

Dan and I got back from New York on Sunday afternoon and before I even took off my coat, it was back to work! There's been a flurry of decorating, prepping, planning, calling, and brainstorming for our big New Year's Eve Package and I'm having trouble finding time to drop a line here on the blog. So rather than give you a half-dazed late night groggy post or a rushed, gotta-get-done-because-the-cookies-are-baking-and-if-they-bake-any-longer-than-6-and-a-half-minutes-they-turn-into-frisbees post, I decided to take a little break until Thursday, and leave you with the following thoughts:

---A person checks into a hotel for the first time in his life, and goes up to his room. Five minutes later he calls the desk and say, "You've given me a room with no exit. How do I leave?"

The desk clerk says, "Sir, that's absurd. Have you looked for the door?"

The person says, " Well, there's one door that leads to the bathroom. There's a second door that goes into the closet. And there's a door I haven't tried, but it has a 'do not disturb' sign on it."---

Until Thursday, Have a great New Years everyone!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!
The Inn will be closed for the holidays this week, and Dan and I are headed back to NY to visit with family. I'll be back and blogging on the 28th, hopefully with some fun new stories to share. Happy holidays, travel safely, and make some memories!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Biscotti Ponderings


I love biscotti. Love them. Mmmm, Biscotti. And the next best thing to eating biscotti is making them. Biscotti are nearly fool-proof and unbelievably versatile. Cranberry-Pistachio? Delicious. Peanut Butter Cup? Amazing. Apricot-Almond. yum! I'm sure even something as crazy as Maple-Bacon could be great. It's so much fun to sit and stare blankly off into space pondering on what would be the next great biscotti. Some ideas I have pondered on include:

-Spiced Pumpkin with Nutmeg Cream Cheese Glaze

-Vanilla Chai Spice with Crystallized Ginger

-Peanut Butter and Jelly (PB biscotti with Jelly Filling inside)

-Carrot Cake

-Dark Chocolate with White Chocolate Mint Center

-Raspberry-Lemon Swirl

-Apple-Walnut with Cinnamon-Caramel Glaze

-Just Honey

-Chocolate Dipped Sweet Cherry

-Maple-Fig

-S'more-style (Chocolate with Fluff filling and Crushed Graham Crackers on top)

-Gingerbread Dipped in Ginger-White Chocolate Ganache

And it just so happens that tomorrow is a big baking day for me. I'm making 5 different kinds of cookies to give to friends and family for the Holidays. I've decided on 4 varieties of cookies which thus far include: Cinnamon Bun Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Turtle Shortbreads, Raspberry-Lemon Cutout Sandwiches, and Tart Cherry Pistachio Tea Cookies. But I have not yet decided on a biscotti.

Any suggestions, oh lovely readers of mine?


(...Drat! All this talk of cookies has made me hungry now!)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Garden Gables Inn Presents:


A Compliment of the Highest Regard

A True Story, Adapted for the Stage:


Cast:

-WAITRESS

-YOUNG MAN

-YOUNG WOMAN

-HUSBAND


The Scene:

A cozy New England Bed & Breakfast. Early morning. A nice young couple sits at one table, sipping coffee and nibbling at goodies from the buffet. Their WAITRESS approaches, order pad in hand.



WAITRESS: Good morning! Would you folks like a few more minutes or are you all set to order?


YOUNG MAN: I think we’re ready.


WAITRESS: (names off litany of breakfast options, which includes waffles, eggs cooked any way, omelettes, blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes, and apple strudel french toast)


YOUNG MAN: (with awe) Can I have one of everything? (laughs)


YOUNG WOMAN: (in a motherly, gently reprimanding voice) No, Honey. We’ll each get one thing and split it, okay?


YOUNG MAN: Alright... Well I want the Apple Strudel French Toast then.


YOUNG WOMAN: I’ll have an omelette with goat cheese and tomato.


WAITRESS: Sounds great! I’ll have that out for you in a few.


(A few minutes pass while the WAITRESS and her HUSBAND cook their order. She returns with French Toast that looks a lot like this:

..and an omlette that looks a lot like this:


...and presents it to the COUPLE.) (The YOUNG MAN stares at the plate of French Toast in front of him, nearly mesmerized. The WAITRESS is amused.)


WAITRESS: Can I get you guys anything else?


YOUNG MAN: (in an entranced voice, still staring at his plate) No... absolutely nothing.


Monday, December 15, 2008

Eco Update #2

Alright, I want to prepare you for this. We at the Garden Gables Inn have made a revolutionary and unprecedented ecological decision. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to make this happen. Months of planning, debating, conference calling, consulting, and editing have finally come to fruition. Are you ready?

We started recycling.

Boring, I know. I’m sorry! Big, awesome, exciting things will come, I promise. But how else was I supposed to get excited about recycling? Its... recycling. But it’s something that we weren’t doing, was easy to incorporate, and has a big impact. I didn’t even know how big until I started this post. How big you say? I’m so glad you asked...


-Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch. Energy savings from recycling aluminum in 1993 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.

-Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months.

-Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever. We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled: 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.

-26 recycled PET bottles equals a polyester suit. 5 recycled PET bottles make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket.

-If every American household recycled just one out of every ten HDPE bottles they used, we’d keep 200 million pounds of the plastic out of landfills every year.

Holy carrots!

I know that when I’m at home and I open up a can of soup, it sometimes seems like way too much work to rinse it out and walk it over to the recycling bin. But statistics like this help me realize that every little bit actually means something.

So even though recycling seems like a silly, insignificant, and common change to make, it’s worth posting about. Because it really isn’t silly or insignificant. And if it seems common, that’s great! I’m all for good things being common.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

My feet must be tasty...

...because I seem to stick them in my mouth A LOT. Remember our previous conversation about all the mistakes I'll inevitably make while I learn the nuts and bolts of innkeeping? Well this morning was a perfect example of that.

This is the story:
A very nice couple ordered their meal, Dan and I made it, and then I brought it out to them. Whenever I bring out an order, I always check to see if the guests need anything else: syrup for their pancakes, butter for the toast, tabasco for the eggs, etc.. Speaking of tabasco on eggs, that is one thing I have just never seen the appeal of. It's just weird to me! But then again, I love beets and tuna fish with green olives and maple syrup in milk, so I guess I don't have much room to critique the preferences of others.


Anyway, the order in question was 2 eggs over easy with goat cheese and fresh tomato and basil on the side. In my head I thought, "Okay, they've got eggs, so they don't need syrup, and they've already got the side of goat cheese, tomato and basil, so they’re probably alright. But I might as well check, just to be sure.”



Me: “Could I get you guys anything else? More coffee? Ketchup or hot sauce for your eggs or anything weird like that?”


Guest: “Uh, yeah, hot sauce would be great.”



...and I just called it weird. Ugh! Boy my foot is tasty!


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Snow, Finally!

I'll admit it, I was a little bit happy when it started snowing on Sunday. All this week, as Dan and I were decorating the tree and hanging wreaths and putting little candles in the windows, I couldn't help but wish that there was some snow on the ground. Everything just feels so much more Christmasy when it's covered in that blanket of white, you know? Christmastime at night is the best. I love seeing all of the lights reflect on the snow and cast pretty multicolored shadows.

So when I started seeing those flakes float down, my first reaction was (of course) to grab my camera and see what it can do!

This was the first picture I took, nothing too special, just a view of our driveway and the snow as it was starting to coat things.



If you click the picture you can see a few of the snowflakes up close. So pretty!



You can see the little snowflakes even better in this one.



The last remnant of summer's greenery falls prey to winter's cold.




This is probably my favorite. It's a view looking down the branch of a little ornamental tree in our garden. You can see some of the little snowflakes in this one too, and I love the touch of green.



And while the above photo is my favorite, this lovely little set shows my least favorites. The photography lesson I learned that day was:

It doesn't matter how hard you try, what setting you put the camera on, or where you focus; it is darn near impossible to take a picture of a single snowflake on your coat sleeve without it melting first.


...not to mention the fact that I must have looked really silly standing on our porch taking about a thousand pictures of my sleeve. Who would have known that I was taking pictures of snowflakes? But the good news is it's only December 10th. There's plenty of wintertime left to get more pictures.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Our First Experience with the Smoke Detector

Today I am standing in the kitchen, just about to pour out last night's coffee. Just as I tip the carafe this ear shattering screech rips through the silence of my Monday morning. "Oh my..." I think, "The fire alarm!"

I run over to the security panel, panicked, and try to see which sector the alarm was set off in. They're ALL blinking! AHHHH! Lights are flashing, sirens ringing, I'm trying to figure out why, if the panel says the alarm was set off in the sitting room, I'm not on fire.

And then. Silence. *sigh of relief*

I go back to the panel, and it now shows that the alarm was set off in Room 10, the bottom level of our Eladesor cottages. Za, our housekeeper, and I run to the cottage and intercept a very frazzled looking Dan on the way. I tell him where we're going and the three of us head off to see what happened.

We open the door to Room 10 and an impenetrable wall of smoke faces us. Thick, grey, odorless smoke rises and falls in waves. "Odorless? Is it carbon monoxide?"

Dan (being the silly, slightly foolish, and sometimes too-brave soldier that he is) decides he's going to go in an see where it's coming from. I, of course, am panicking and reminding him not to breathe while I wait for the fire engine to come screaming into our driveway.

And long, seemingly exciting story short. A pipe burst. It was steam. The plummer came. All is well.


It's funny, because when people ask if Dan and I own the Inn, I always jokingly tell them, "Nah, John owns it, we're just here to make sure it doesn't burn down." And boy am I glad that today wasn't the day Dan and I stood outside and watched this 228 year old Inn burn. Whew!

With love and RELIEF,
~Brande N.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We just finished a crazy round of mad-dash decorating here at the Inn. Halls were decked, wreaths were hung, trees assembled, candles lit, and, of course, pictures were taken. I hope these pictures kick start your holiday spirit like they did mine, enjoy!


Here's our "Red" tree in the Sitting Room. If you could just pretend you don't notice that the top of the tree isn't lit, I'd feel much better about my decorating skills...



My favorite ornament on this tree is this cute little "Letters to Santa" tube. It really opens too!




We also have this beautiful menorah on the piano in the Sitting Room.



The Sherry Room features this red-berry garland that I adore. I think they're supposed to be cranberries; which makes the cranberry-mandarin candles very appropriate.



And did you notice this guy next to the fireplace? We've designated him our "Keeper of the Sherry". It's a difficult position, but we think he's up to the task.


The Dining Room features our "Blue" tree, which (unsurprisingly) is decorated in shades of blue and silver. It's so frosty and delicate looking.


My favorite ornament on this tree is this beautiful blue bird. Did you ever notice that blue crayon in the box called "cerulean"? I never knew what that word was or how to pronounce it but it was always my favorite crayon. This bird is that same exact color. So pretty!


And the newest addition to the Garden Gables Family are these silly little penguins that we found in the basement. They have a little twisty thing on their backs that makes them waddle across the table. Too cute! We've designated them "The Keepers of the Desk". That too is a difficult position, and as much as I'd like to say they're up to the task, those googly little eyes are terribly unconvincing.


We'll be adding more Deco in the coming days, so I'll be sure to post more pictures. Perhaps I'll give you an update on the performance of our Guard Penguins too. :-P


With Love and Holiday Silliness,
~Brande N.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Eco Update Number One

Going green is all about baby steps. Changing light bulbs, keeping your tires inflated, turning the heat down a degree or two, all that stuff. Oftentimes it feels like these things just plain don't matter, but every little bit helps! In fact, according to Carbonrally.com, merely keeping your tires properly inflated will save up to 29lbs of carbon in one month. How cool is that!



Therefore, in the interest of starting with small, maintainable changes here at the Inn, our first step was to replace our no-calorie sweetener. This change is great because not only will it positively affect human health, but it will also reduce the use of various industrial chemicals. You see, when things like Splenda and Equal are made, chemicals (of varying degrees of toxicity, and environmental impact) are utilized. By not purchasing the product that uses these chemicals, we're avoiding the use of them altogether. It's a win-win because we get to provide a delicious and more healthful alternative to you and we get to feel good about minimizing our ultimate environmental impact.


I've compiled a whole bunch of information on the various sweeteners available on the market. Hopefully this gives you an idea of why we decided to make the switch:



Saccarin – Sweet ‘n’ Low

-Definitely causes cancer in rats and mice.

-Has not conclusively been found to cause cancer in humans, but Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests erring on the side caution due to unknown risk level for fetuses and children.

-Also belongs to class of chemicals called sulfonamides which can cause allergic reactions in those allergic to sulfa drugs. The product is not mandated to carry an allergy warning on its label.


Aspartame – Nutra Sweet, Equal

-Definitively amplifies the effects of depression. One study was cut short due to the severity of Aspartame’s effects on depressed patients.

-Some people are susceptible to headaches as a result of aspartame consumption

-May be a mild carcinogen. Studies performed worldwide have found conflicting results, so no definitive answer is currently available.Center for Science in the Public Interest lists this as a food "to be avoided, not worth any risk"


Sucralose – Splenda

-Is the newest nonnutritive sweetener on the market, was only approved for common use in 1999. Therefore, no long-term human studies on its affect on humans have been done.

-“According to the book Sweet Deception, sucralose is made when sugar is treated with trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, hydrogen chlorine, thionyl chloride, and methanol in the presence of dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, toluene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid, benzyltriethlyammonium chloride, and sodium methoxide, making it unlike anything found in nature.” Uses and heath and environmental impacts of each of these chemicals can be found online, but some uses include: creation of nerve gases, creation of photo film, vinyl production, and automotive fuel. Trityl Chloride is listed as an environmentally hazardous material.

-Chlorine is present in sucralose. Ingestion of chlorine causes “corrosive tissue damage of the gastrointestinal tract.” It is thought that this may lead to various digestive cancers.


Acesulfame K – Food additive (common in chewing gum and candy)

-Contains methylene chloride (known human carcinogen)

-Long-term effect studies have not been conducted



On the other hand, here is some information on our new sweetener:



Erythritol – Z-Sweet

-60%-80% as sweet as table sugar

-Unlike other sugar alcohols (sorbitol, manitol, xylitol) erythritol is absorbed by the body, so it will not cause any of the gastrointestinal affects sugar alcohols are known for.

-Does not affect blood-sugar levels

-Produced by fermenting glucose with a specific strain of yeast.

-Erythritol cannot be digested by oral bacteria so it does not contribute to tooth decay.



I tried finding dangers, side effects, or long-term health concerns for Erythritol, but happily, nothing came up! This is why we’ve chosen to provide our guests with Z-sweet. It is naturally produced, has no side effects, tastes great, and is safe for diabetics, dieters, children, adults, and even those who just want to avoid tooth decay. If you've never tried Z-sweet before, I hope you'll give it a try the next time you're at the Inn. It's great in tea. I just finished my cup, in fact.



Safe Eating and Happy Greening Everyone!

~Brande N.



Primary sources:

http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/article.htm (all pages)

http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

http://www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/chlorine_tech.htm

as well as various Google searches.

-When researching environmental topics I am always conscious to check my sources. I will never use a source that comes from the industry in question (i.e. using a statistic on the Exxon-Mobile website that talks about carbon emissions related to gasoline). If possible I try to use consumer advocacy groups such as the CSPI and EWG.

-I always ensure that I have several sources for anything that I post.

-I always start my research from an unbiased stance, then continue being first negatively biased and then positively. For example, when researching Saccharin I will search "Saccharin" first and take note of various statistics and studies. Then I will do a second and third search of "Saccharin hazards/side effects/dangers" and one of "Saccharin good/safe/conspiracy". This ensures that I am getting as much information as possible from each side. This also allows me to look for biases in research from both sides.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Ten Reasons Why I'm in Haven!

When Dan and I first interviewed for the position of Inn Manager, we were completely unfamiliar with this area. We had driven from Oswego, NY to Pittsfield, MA a night early for that historic interview and had only made dinner plans for the night of our arrival. Checkout was at 10:00am at the little hotel we stayed at, but our interview wasn't until Noon. What were two completely clueless, unbelievably nervous, and very hungry interviewees supposed to do for two hours? The simple answer was eat. The difficult question was where.

So Dan and I headed south from Pittsfield to Lenox, searching for food. We parked on Church street and ambled about, seeking food. Church Street Cafe? Closed. Bistro Zinc? Closed. Firefly? Closed. Cafe Lucia? Closed. Alta? Closed. We had arrived at in Lenox at what I now know to be exactly the wrong time for finding food, which, for future reference, is 10:30am on a weekday. After walking to all of these places and finding not a single morsel we pessimistically turned a corner and spotted the sign for Haven Cafe & Bakery. And they were open.



"Cafe food?" I thought, "My Favorite!"


And let me tell you, to this day, two months and many restaurants after that first experience, Haven is still my favorite place in Lenox. Dan and I went there for lunch today and I decided to bring along the new camera and give you a peek into why I am nearly addicted to this beautiful, wonderful, delicious gem of a café.


Reason #1: They source locally. What was such a rarity for me in Oswego (local cuisine is impossible to find there) is much more common here in The Berkshires; but it will always earn any business buckets of brownie points in my book.




Reason #2: Their menu is simultaneously unique, well-done, simple, gourmet, and completely affordable. How is this possible!



Reason #3: Every last employee is delightful. We’ve had friendly, helpful, courteous service every time we’ve gone. (Figures 1 & 2 depict prime examples of employees with impeccable customer service)



Reason #4: The food NEVER disappoints. Just look at these sandwiches!



And do you see those perfect, luscious slices of pear on my Croque Monsieur?


And the sweet, caramelized onion on Dan’s Steak sandwich!

Not to mention these oven-roasted potatoes, which are TO DIE FOR.



Reason #5: Their 100% made in-house bakery items. They’re… I could just…. I wanna… It’s like they’re… You know what, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking, I can’t even find adequate adjectives for this kind of deliciosity.



Reason #6: This dessert.

It’s called a Cappuccino Cake. I call it Pure Chocolate Love with Cream Cheese Coffee Frosting that happens to be topped with a Chocolate Covered, Cocoa Dusted Hazelnut. If you want to make me very happy this Christmas, buy me one of these. I’m not even kidding. This dessert is rapidly becoming yet another addiction of mine.


Reason #7: Free samples of Cappuccino Cake!!!!!!!!!



Reason #8: Stevia and Z-Sweet (erythritol) on the tables and Agave Nectar and Honey on the coffee bar. Was this place made for me???



Reason #9: When they say that they care about the environment, they mean it. Even their shirts are 100% Organic Cotton!



Reason #10: With all of these reasons to love Haven, it actually affects your mood to be there. Dan and I get really happy and giddy. Sometimes a little silly too. Here’s a quote from today’s visit:

In a silly, batty old woman voice Dan says, “Now you see, with the second cup of tea, you gotta squeeze the bejeezus out of the teabag." He squeezes it. "See that? That’s the bejeezus coming out” (Moments like these are also one of the reasons that I love Dan so much, FYI)


And those, dear friends, are 10 reasons why I love Haven. I would (and do) recommend this place to any of our guests. Even if you’re not a guest, please go there! I promise you’ll love it!


And I was thinking, if you happen to go there… Tell them Brande from The Garden Gables sent you… and maybe I’ll get a free cappuccino cake…


It’s just a thought.



With Much Love,
~Brande N.

(PS: By popular demand, they just started serving dinner on Friday and Saturday nights as well! Yay!)